Is Your Workplace an Exclusive Club? If not, maybe it should be

There
are still a lot of stressed out people going to work everyday. Some of them may
be entering your workplace. They’re worried about the economy, health care, and
their family. They are anxious about the future, and sometimes feel alone. They
wonder if they’ll have a job, and are afraid to make mistakes, so they become
afraid to take risks and their genius hides behind a thin smile.

In
today’s economy, with so many employees feeling so uncertain, and solo in their
silo, you can create an environment where people feel like they belong to
something bigger than themselves or their"job."

With
all the research validating the fact that "engaged employees are happy
employees, and happy employees are more productive and make their customers
happy," (duh) you have the opportunity to engage your employees for little or
no financial investment.

Employees
will flourish if they have a sense of belonging to a community, or the
"exclusive club," where they are appreciated for the talents, skills and
experience. Whether they are at work for four, eight or ten hours, if they feel
secure, trusted and an essential part of your organization, they will be more
focused, willing to share ideas and resources, and make your customers feel
that they are part of the exclusive club called "your business."

In
fact, even if people don’t particularly like what they do, they can still feel
good about coming to work, and even move into another position that they do
like.

The more included
employees feel, the more they’ll be engaged and we know the rest. As they make
your customers feel more included and taken care of by your "exclusive club,"
the more they’ll want to return and bring their friends, families and
colleagues to share the experience.

Start by creating a
culture of community with your leadership team and hold everyone accountable
for implementing the culture by getting to know employees at every level.
Become more accessible, less critical, and enlist the whole organization to
become part of the change.

Give formal and informal
recognition of good work, excellent customer feedback, and innovative ideas.
Find out how your employees like to be rewarded.

Create more opportunities
for employees from different work functions to interact with each other, and
empower them to help each other, and learn from each other. If you don’t have
one, develop a newsletter that features employees, and managers so people can
be seen as more than the job they do.

By developing a culture of
community, you’ll get more done, be more focused and your employees will be
more focused on their work each moment of the day. They’ll feel good about
coming to work and be less stressed and home, and your customers will be made
to feel personally served and included in the exclusive club called "your
business."

Simma Lieberman

"The Inclusionist"

Creating workplaces where people love to do their best work and customers love to do business